Shadow: On the Road
by AlphaSlaug
Summary: This is my first story so don't be too harsh. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I like writing it.  A shady pony surfaces in ponyville, hiding a past that is much larger than everyone thought.
1. Chapter 1

Oh the roads. Some use them to travel, others for adventure, even others who look for trouble. Roads were never ending, as well as the list of their uses. Some of these are light, such as helping weary travelers, others… well others can be very dark.

A young looking pony cloaked in a dark green cloak looked down upon the road before him. His stomach growled of hunger, he could not even remember the last time he ate. During the still of night he could hear hove steps on the main road below. _Just one set, I can't believe my luck_ he though to himself as his green eyes looked down at the pony that came into view. _I told you the roads would prove fruitful._ A voice in his head said. It had been with him for months, instructing him and teaching him about life as an exile. The pony was an orange coated one and was strolling down the road towards the town nearby. She was whistling and more importantly, carrying a basket. _Bingo!_ He though to himself as he tensed up and waited. _Just get the goods, last thing you need are cops looking for you in these woods_. He thought as he aimed well and leaped.

The pony below heard the rustle and her head shot up, only to see a sprawling pony above. WHACK! She was on her stomach in the middle of the road, dazed and watching a dark colt make off with the contents of the basket, just the contents. The basket was still next to her, but the apples seemed to be in the saddleback of the running pony. She got up to her feet and chased after the pony. Sure the apples aren't worth much, but no one jumped Apple Jack and got away with it, no one.

The colt had quite the head start, but soon heard applejack catching up to him. _Damn, she is faster than I thought _he thought as a crazed idea to loose her. He veered left into the woods that had been his home since his exile… all that time before. He weaved, dodges, jumped, and dove through the woods attempting to loose his chaser. No avail, his path didn't loose her, but closed the gap; he only had one logical option. When he ran into the next clearing he started his crazed plan. He spread his wings and felt the air lift him up out of the forest. He loved flying, but he was always afraid of being spotted. He flew up into the night clouds as he saw an orange ant charge into the clearing that he had just been, looking right up at him.

He headed to the nearby mountain, a lonely thing like himself. "This is only the beginning, isn't it?" he asked the air. He found a small cave opening and flew into its darkness. When he landed, he surveyed the area surroundings of the mountain. For some reason he looked east into a valley, looking pitch-black the dead of night. He spotted the faint lights, turning on one by one, of a town deep in the valley by a small river.

He retreated to darkness and started getting supplies for a small fire. He curled up close to it and enjoyed two of the dozen apples from his pack.


	2. Chapter 2

The colt slowly let his eyes droop over, far too long has he been awake. It was a busy day, and now his stomach wasn't attempting to eat itself, like it has been since the beginning of the week. He curled up on the cold cave floor that he found when exploring the mountain. Sure he was cold, no scratch that, he was freezing; but that has never mattered to him. Years he had spent much like this, but his cloak kept him above death, but only just above. Finally he surrendered to the sleepiness and his mind quickly put him into a dream.

His eyes opened to a sight of a golden room, lights shining in from the rows of windows on each side, dozens of ponies, all were in the benches staring silently up to the front of the room. He seemed invisible, no one could see him; he walked around inspecting the mystery room, it was somewhat familiar but he was still in the dark.

At the front of there room stood upon a raised platform was princess Celestia, looking down at a poor buck chained to the floor. He was on the floor with a panicked look in his eyes and dried blood around his snout, a sight that always brought back memories. Surrounding the pony were a ring of armed guards, the best Equestria had to offer. He realized that this scene was a trial, his trail.

"For your actions, I should smite you where you stand. You have done unspeakable and unforgivable things to Equestria. But because I have a sense of honor, unlike your self, I have chosen to hold you a trial. Unfortunately the jury has made their decision, and it is not in you favor. I full heartedly agree with the punishment the have passed upon you. The jury, and myself, have agreed to sentence you to death. You shall be executed at dawn in one week. Guards, take this prisoner back to his cell!" She called out as the guards started to drag the, now crying, buck away.

"Please! I beg of you! Don't kill me! I will do anything, anything!" The colt pleaded between sobs. "Have mercy Princess, please have mercy!"

With that the guards stopped and the princess quietly said "Mercy. You want me to have mercy? You just wish to be spared. But so be it. You shall be exiled from these lands, returning shall be punishable by death. You are to be given your guardsmen cloak and be exiled immediately. For you have gotten mercy now, but next time you shall not even get a sliver of it."

"Oh thank you! Thank you so much! You shall never see of me again." The colt said as tears ran down his muzzle, still in sadness, but now he would live.

The scene began to change once more, into a flat mountain top. He was surrounded by fog, a thick blanket covering all noise, all sites that should have been visible. "You remember, don't you? Exiled by you own kin." A raspy voice said from nowhere. He didn't bother searching for its cause, as he already knew it was the fog itself. "I found you all alone, weak, ashamed. But now look at you; you are strong, brave, and perhaps even good hearted." The voice continued. "But now bad things have stirred, something evil has awakened, perhaps you wish to save the innocent once again, just like those glory days you dreamed of so often." It didn't wait for a reply. Before he could do anything his dreamed smashed away and he was brought back to a cold reality. He looked at what had disturbed him; it was a storm, a horrid, horrid storm. He shivered both in fear of his past, and in the dropping temperature. He has had this dream ever since the day it happened, it happened at least twice a week. That was before Kip, he helped me find homes, food, supplies, but the nightmares increased. A devil's kiss.

* * *

><p>Jack ran in the rain into the town, straight to the library to talk to her friend, Twilight Sparkle. She busted into the library, soaking wet, and wasn't surprised at all to find he at her desk studying. She had found Twilight like this many times before. "What's wrong?" She asked sensing the sadness in Applejack.<p>

"I was walking in the woods with a basket of apple to give to Flutter Shy and her animals for the upcoming winter, but someone was waiting for me. He was crafty, waiting in the trees and jumped on me when he was above me. He stole the apples and ran off into the woods, and when I went after him, well, wings came out under the cloak he was wearing and took off flying." Apple Jack said in as few breaths as she could, with small tears forming in her eyes. For her pride was stolen as well.

"Oh my! I can't believe that! Are you alright? What did he take? Did this pegasi look familiar?" Twilight asked worried suddenly.

"Yes I'm fine, he only took apples that were for Flutter Shy, and I have never have I seen him in my life. He had a grayish coat, black mane and tail, and a dark green cloak. What should we do?" She asked as Twilight looked her up and down.

"Nothing tonight, the storm is getting bad, supposed to get worse. Tomorrow I shall tell the police and have them look for any sign of this mystery pony. As for you, well you need some rest. Go on, get to the orchard, I'm sure you're missed." She said while pushing Apple Jack towards the door. "I will talk to you tomorrow then." And with that she shut the door and ordered spike to get supplies to write a letter to the Princess.

_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_ I have urgent news for you. Apple Jack, the pony who owns the apple family, was attacked and mugged while in the woods. She was attacked by a pony, a pegasus! He stole the apples she was carrying and made off through the air. It is truly dark times when ponies attack each other for food. I shall be writing about it and a description of the colt soon._

_P.S. I heard the storm is supossed to last for two more days, I hope that the rain stops before the freezing days._

_Twilight Sparke_

__With a puff of green flame, the letter was off heading to the capitol. To someone who has already heard of this pony before.


	3. Chapter 3

The colt began to daze again, ignoring the thunder. It had been far too long since he was able to sleep with a full stomach. He started dreaming about the times when he was a servant of the people. When people, if they knew what he did, would cheer for him. He never went hungry, always in a warm bed, never hearing voices. _Do you not like me? You forget I still can see what you are dreaming of... _His eyes snapped open, his heart jumping. _Oh, did I scare you? Hahaha. I hope not, for there are far more frightful things out in this world, much more than myself._ He calmed himself and tried to just think. "I just miss it when I wan't hunted, before all of it." He said to himself as he put another log on the fire and drank a bit of water that he had gathered from the storm. _Sweet dreams._ At that, the colt was once again whisked away into a world of fantasy, of the wonders of his wildest dreams.

He woke once more with by some type of noise. He could have easily written it off as lightning, but his mind new he had heard something different. It was a rumble, a deep evil rumble from the mountain itself. KipRas had told him, and even shown him in his dreams times in history where evils buried in mountains have stirred. His eyes open instantly, fear overtaking his body. He dowsed the fire and gathered the apples, running throughout the cave to hide any evidence of him being there. He then ran to the cave opening, jumped out, and spread his wings.

The wind took his wings with such a force that it almost hurt, almost but not quite. The pegasus flew as fast as he could, towards the forests in valley. The wind and rain battered against the colt as he gained speed, being pushed and pulled by the strongest winds he had been through. He felt his face being stretched in every direction as his speed increased beyond his wildest dreams, he knew what would happen if he continued. As he no longer had the blessing of Celestia, he could no longer perform a sonic rain-boom, but only a sonic boom. It could be considered the same, but to a pegasus, they were two very different things. One was filled with life, happiness, and joyfulness; the other had nothing but a dull, colorless, and emotional effect.

He seemed to be getting into worse parts as the rain, wind, and lighting were all picking up. He could feel the wind giving him that final push, breaking the barrier, pushing him into something that was truly spectacular. Not even seconds before he broke it, did he hear a crack. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his right wing and nose dived down towards the forest at breakneck speeds. He let out a blood curling scream as he attemped to spread both of his wings, but it was hopeless, one wouldn't respond and the other was just too weak on its own. After several seconds he was able to somewhat level out, but was still falling at an ever increasing speed. He felt contact with one of the tallest pines in the forest, as if a thousand pins were being shoved into him, and started tumbling through the canopy. All he could hear was 'CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!' He couldn't figure out if it was weak branches or something far more painful. When he hit the ground he skipped as if a rock, skidding across still at amazing speed. he felt parts of his coat burn and scrape off. As his body slowed and whammed into something hard at the back of his head, he realized he was no longer in the forest but a clearing.

Every flash of lightening he could see a home looming above him, he guessed that was what stopped him, and then in another flash he saw rows of trees, hundreds if not thousands; all apple trees. He saw baskets, barrels, wagons, all full of apples; apples of every color, reds, yellows, and greens. An apple orchard.

He tried to get up, and almost succeeded, but once on all fours, a pain of thousands of knives went through his body. The pain started from his legs spreading up to his head causing him to fall without a second to even yell. His breathing became raspy, coughing up a liquid, the same liquid that was covering his body; it wasn't rain, no, it was warm and sticky. He tried to move a hove to gather some, but after sharp pains in three of his, he realized only his front right one would respond to him. He dipped it into the liquid that spread across his body and brought it up to his face; it was red, blood red. He started feeling it as it came out of his many cuts, burns, scrapes, and from what he saw in his hind legs, the part where the bone was outside of his body. He felt as if he was both on fire yet freezing, his mind slowly shutting down and the pain becoming unbearable.

At that moment he heard the door to the house behind him slam open and a pony walk out yelling "Now what in he-" She stopped short and turned around and galloped back into the house, yelling for someone. That pony, she was familiar. She was the one he mugged! He had to get out of there, but he couldn't move. A shiver went down his spine as blood soaked his coat. He felt as if he would die right then and there. At that moment the world started spinning, the colors all blended together, and everything felt the same, warm yet distant. He knew what was happening, but before he could react, he knew nothing.


	4. Chapter 4

A cart when screaming down the roads into Ponyville, pulled by Big Macintosh, and went straight to the library. Few times did Big Macintosh run, but even the weight of a wagon with two ponies in it didn't slow him at all. Applejack was rapping the unconscious colt's wounds. The cuts from the crash covered his body, and he was loosing blood fast. Every since she found him halfway under the front steps of their home, he had been unconscious and bleeding. As the trio reached the library, Applejack sprinted to the door and started banging. She didn't care that it was the dead of night or the fact that her banging was waking up the whole neighbor hood. After several seconds of continually banging on the door and shouting, the door opened to reveal the sleepy looking dragon. "What are you doing at this hour?" he asked with an annoyed tone. Applejack ignored the question and instead started shouting for Twilight. Who came down from the upstairs part of the library, still holding a book that she had been reading.

"What are you doing at this hour, I thought I told you to go home and get some rest. I told the Princess about what happened as well, she is going to have someponies search for the pegasus." She with a hint of triumph in her voice, as she thought she had taken care of the problem.

"Twi, I need help. Somepony is in the wagon, and he's not looking well. I found him outside my porch covered in cuts, branches, and blood. And Twi, he's the same pony who jumped me in the woods and took my apples. But he needs our help, do you have any spells to help him, Big Mac and I are taking him to the clinic." Apple Jack said in a hurry, forgetting to breathe.

"Calm down Apple Jack. Spike; write to the Princess, she may be needed. I will come with you, but I haven't learned anything that might help him. Only the Royal Hospital in Canterlot might be able to help him if he's in the shape I think he is." She said as she led Apple Jack out the door, leaving Spike to write to the Princess.

As they reached the clinic, the ponies took the limp body into the building and passed him off to the doctors. Once the doctors took him into the clinic, the trio was forced to stay in the lobby. The doctors started to wash his cuts and bandage the cuts, involving multiple roles of medical tape. Once done, they worked with the many broken bones. They found out that broken was an understatement, shattered was more fitting. All most all of his bones, especially his wings, where shattered beyond belief. But what was even more terrifying was the fact that he had a punctured lung, major concussion, and minor internal bleeding. There was little they could do to help him, let alone help him.

As the trio of ponies waited for hours on end, they were eventually joined by Spike and FlutterShy. Spike had run into her when running to the clinic with important news. "The Princess is coming here!" He shouted when he came in. "Wait, here, as in right now?" Twilight asked franticly, realizing that she had gotten absolutely no sleep.

"Don't worry, it is unofficial. Luna, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Rarity are making sure it is discreet. She is going to take the patient to Canterlot and make sure he lives to tell his tale, she seemed very interested when I told her it was the same one from earlier." Spike replied as he took a seat next to her. "I'm sure everything will work out… what's the worst that could happen?"

_Where am I? _The Colt thought as he was once again in his realm of dreams. "Hello? Kip, are you there?" Silence answered as the fog moved about. _How am I still alive?_ He thought as he wondered around the plot of land that he found himself on. "Do not worry, I am taking care of you, there is still so much for you to do. Only you and I know about that mountain, we can't let that problem go unnoticed. Things aren't looking well for you, you and I both know what could happen to you. I hope you understand that I am going to leave you though; you are in too bad of shape to help.

"What! No, that was the same pony that means that she knows. Chances are that I will be taken. I need you!" The fog started leaving him and revealing an appalling site. His surroundings, forests, villages, farms, and cities, were all on fire. He could hear ponies screaming out in agony. He felt tears hot on his cheek. "This is what will happen if I stay with you and we die. The world shall turn to flames, innocent will perish, all will be lost. I have to leave you, for that sake of the world" Kip said while creating a form, a pitch black colt with a white mane and tail and red eyes. "I must leave as soon as possible, find someone who will help us and save the world. If you survive, you will find us on the top of the mountain in the cave you found."

"But how did this happen? It isn't fate that took me to this. You were the one who told me about that road, you are the reason that I am going to die! You know my past! They will kill me the second they learn it too!" He said as his sadness and fear of abandonment turned to rage. From a very young age he had abandonment problems, and Kip had helped him for so long, he was like a father or brother. He took a step towards the black colt with anger in his eyes.

"Not so fast. I am keeping you alive right now, turn on me and I will leave you to your death. But you are right, I did set this up; your wing was shattered by a rock. You still don't know my power outside minds. I can't let somepony who doesn't have best interest for that mountain know about it. And I can't have my followers wanted and looked for by all in the land. " He said as he disappeared into a mist, leaving his body and going into the outside world. The landscape started melting down and he heard new voices. "Is he waking?" I don't know" "He is, the transfer is going to have to happen even earlier." The colt was lost completely, every word made absolute no sense.

His eyes opened to the white room of the clinic, surrounded by nine ponies and a dragon. His heart rate jumped up as he saw that both princesses were in front of him. He knew exactly what was coming next and attempted to gulp. It caused him to choke though, and as he coughed he felt his entire rib cage ache. He realized just how much pain he was in, even with painkillers, he could barely move with out passing out.

"May Luna and I have a moment with the patient?" The doctor reluctantly agreed and led the other six ponies and dragon out and shut the door.


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as the door shut, both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna gave the colt a furious stare. "I thought I told you to never come back again! You now what I said last time, you have the next five minutes to convince me to spare you. Start talking Shadow!" Princess Celestia said as her horn glowed brighter every word.

Shadow thought about what to say, what information to disclose. After several seconds of thought he sighed and started with his tale. About how he had run out of food three months ago and has been thieving ever since, his stay at the South Island, and his recent injury. Needless to say, both princesses were shocked to hear such tales, not many ponies were able to get to the South Island, at least not from Equestria. "That still does not excesses your trespassing of Equestria, you were warned under pain of death." Luna said with a cold tone

"I didn't know that I was here, I just was told to cross the river to the north. I was told that food was in abundance there, and I was close to eating my own saddle pack. A month ago, I believe, but days start blending together." Shadow said choosing his words carefully, knowing very well that they could be his last.

"Told? Somepony told you? Last I remembered, you have yet to listen to anypony, no matter the consequences. So, who told you?" Celestia said, bringing memories of Shadow's crimes back into her mind, anger started to build.

"It was a voice, a voice told me. While on the South Island it popped into my head, six months ago to the day. I told me where to go and what to do since." Shadow said once again careful, but more confident. They would not kill him if there was information to be lost. "It has left me though, abandoned me thanks to you." He continued in a very cold tone.

"That is rather convenient; the voice goes missing when you are found. If this voice is real, what is it called then?" Luna said in an equally cold voice.

"What he told me was KipRas, but I bet that was a lie from day one. He has now left me to die to go on living. I bet you have no idea what that feels like, when in your worst possible state, everypony abandons you to a horrid fate. I have experience with that you know, when my 'friends' betray me to save them selves. And things can change, look at you. You aren't on the moon anymore." Shadow shot back in a bitter voice.

"Enough! Luna, admit him into the royal hospital now, I am surprised that he lasted this far, but he does need care." Celestia said, silencing both ponies. All of her anger was deflated by the mention of a voice. "I have to visit somepony now because of this. I know you two haven't liked each other in a long time, but you need to help him. He knows far more then he lets on, and he's smart enough to keep that information with him if it saves him." She continued as she opened the door and walked out of the clinic. She hustled to a nearby home of one of her past co-members and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" a gruff voice said. He always questioned everything, no matter who said it.

"It is I, the Sun Bearer. Open up." Celestia said quietly. The door opened without a sound. "It seems Shadow has wondered back into Equestria, he had a voice named KipRas commanding him." She continued as she entered. "He picked it up from the South Islands, what could be there Doc?"

The sand-drown pony, named Doc, smiled wildly as he shut the door and led the princess down to his cellar. Once there did she realize that it was no cellar, but a library. "Oh what could it be? The South Island, haven't been there for years. Don't think anything should be there, thought we cleared it during the war." He said while lost in his memories.

"Well, things are moved every day, maybe somepony moved something back into the island." Celestia said back, she continued with an important request. "I need you to-"

"To watch him? See what he is willing to give me? Sure, I will leave for Canterlot in the morning, but for know I must research his adventures. Do you think he ran into the fabled six by coincidence?" Doc said completing her question like he did for most ponies.

"No, they are tied with him, after all, I see a bit of him in every one of them. I suppose that Twilight will want to watch over Shadow, after all, she want to help her friends. Find out who he is, why he did it, just about every possible thing" She said picking up book after book.

"We can't have her doing that, who knows how she will react to it." Doc said as he also handed her a stack of books. "Here, these should be enough. By the way, don't you still have the main library back in Equestria?"

"Yes, and it is well hidden in my personal library, few would find it." The princess said as she headed back upstairs and out the door. "I hope to see you soon!" She called out as she left.

For the next three months, things went about the same. Shadow was moved into the Canterlot Royal Hospital; the 'fabled six' left for Canterlot with him, but everypony but Twilight returned within a month to continue with their business, but visited every weekend. And at day one, a second doctor arrived, more interested in learning rather about Shadow then healing him. After three months, thing started to change dramatically. Shadow regained a large amount of movement and met somepony that changed him, and Twilight became very curious about Shadow's past. And the worst was the evil that was awaking and planning to make its next move.


	6. Chapter 6

Shadow stealth fully opened the window of his room and climbed out into the garden. His coat blended in with the night and garden, after all he hasn't been caught since he started a week ago. He needed fresh air after another long day of sitting around and answering The Doctor's questions. They were mostly about his life and personality, but every now and then The Doctor would ask about his regrets of his exile. It always hit a nerve and raised his guard; it didn't take much thought to figure out who sent him.

When he took a step out he breathed in the fresh air deeply. It was like taking a bath, relaxing, clean, and almost washed away the reality of the world. He wasn't in Canterlot, but a beautiful garden. The main reason he didn't mind living in the woods was because every breath was like that. If his wings would move he wood fly to the forests and live in peace, but fate was cruel and he was stuck on the ground for an unknown amount of time. Everything was healing fast but his wings, which were shattered beyond belief. The stress of that was unbearable, for what was a Pegasus without wings. The real doctor, not the one who only asks questions, still didn't have an idea on when they might heal, or even if they would.

Shadow found a clearing surrounded by shrubs and lay down upon the grass. He stared up to the stars and he felt the soft grass press against his fur. It had been so long since he was happy, and this was as close as he has been since, surrounded by only peace. He blocked out the real world's imperfections and went into his fantasies, where he had no worries.

Because of his daydreaming, Shadow didn't hear a pony coming into the clearing. The pony walked silently up to Shadow and bent down to his ear and whispered "you aren't as sneaky as you think." Shadows eyes snapped open and he jumped up to his hooves facing the pony. There stood a white pony with an electric blue mane and tail and to top it all of, large goggles over her eyes.

"Wh- who are you?" Shadow said when he found his voice, still breathing hard from the surprise. "And what are you here?" He added as he stared at her.

"Me, I'm just Vinyl Scratch. As for being here, same reason as you I guess, you aren't the only one who needed some fresh air. Withdraw is rather hard and stressful you know... I suppose that those wings are the least of your problems, I have seen you out here ever since you started. You aren't nearly as sneaky as you think you are." Vinyl taunted him as he regained control of his breathing. "A better question is who are you?" She asked in a interested yet funny tone.

Shadow, feeling no need to lie at this point, openly said "The name's Shadow. It's a real pleasure to meet you, Vinyl." He said the last part in a near sarcastic tone. "Although I wish you didn't try to give me a heart attack."

"Even if I did, we are kinda in the middle of a hospital..." she said with a wide smirk. For the rest of that night they stayed out and talked, and when they got tired, they fell asleep in each other's arms, looking up to the skies.

Twilight spent most of her time in Canterlot's library, a magnificent collection of history. She missed her times in that place, there were so many books. _Have you ever been curious about him_ a voice said interjecting the quietness of the library. "Wh- Who is there?" She asked startled, squinting as she searched for the source. _That doesn't matter, but have you? Come one, a random pony drops in... Scared half to death when he sees the princess, you saw him, didn't _you._ That has to get you curious, right? _ The voice continued in a steady tone. _If you ask me, he was scared because he did something, perhaps looking into the court records would tell you who he is. It was only four or five years ago, and it had to have been major. _Twilight had agreed with what the voice said, it used a very logical train of thought. And it was right, she was very curious.

After what seemed to be a life time of searching through major trials of the court from four and five years ago; she found what she wanted, no what she needed. A thick packet of legal documents with the front page in titled

Shadow vs. Equestria

CASE NO. 2683

Every thing she wanted to know was in the packet, and she tore into the legal papers. After reading the opening page though, her heart sank; such a horrible crime. But she was determined to read all the facts, get the full story. By the end of the file, which was not long by her standards, she was heart broken. Shadow seemed so nice, gentle, sweet, and caring, but what he did was horrible. She could stand the thought of him, she ran to her chambers that the princess so kindly gave to her.

Kip watched as Twilight ran out and, if he could have, laughed. With only temptation, he was able to stop any connection between Shadow and any pony who would understand him. Twilight would of course inform her friends the moment she could, and Shadow would loose all other ponies trust. Even if this wasn't permanent, it gave Kip a large head start with his plans. His smoky form dissipated as he carried on with his next step, finding a pupil, a pawn.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry it took so long guys, but I didn't like some of it so I rewrote it and now I have the chicken pox. Needless to say, it's hard to concentrate on anything, let alone writing. Also, I have decided after the tenth chapter I will have a 1-2 week break and start on the second segment, also probably 10 chapters. Again sorry about the wait, but life has been hectic to say the least lately.

Ever since his childhood, Shadow had begun to see how dark the world truly was. It forced him to become a vigilante, a fighter of the dark. But if anything it just made it worse, he saw thing done that were evil. A city will always attract the scum of the country. He now refused to trust other ponies, after seeing so many stabbed in the back, literally and metaphorically. But he always needed companionship, hating the felling he got when he was alone. This need would sometimes make him forget about the horrors he had seen, to think of nothing but the niceness of the world.

That is where Vinyl came in. The fear of dying mixed with another painful abandonment shot Shadow into a depression, but he took the first chance he saw to get out, Vinyl. He needed her and she needed him, they understood each other perfectly. What were truly the hardships in life, the darker parts of life, things that normal ponies never knew about.

Shadow had never felt so loved, he and Vinyl spent most of every day together. Even if there was something more exiting going on, they were happy together. He started lowering his guard with everypony, he didn't feel he needed to be on the defensive at all times. He was, for the first time since he could remember, was relaxing. Completely oblivious to the outside world's evils and misfortunes, in a world of bliss fantasies. Even though they were still stuck in the boundaries of the hospital, they were able to have plenty of adventures, laughs, and good memories. For weeks on end they just had fun, ignoring their own past, looking only to the future. There was only a few days where they wouldn't hang out, and that was normally on the weekends. The best time of the week, every weekend, Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, Flutter Shy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight would visit for a few hours. At first it was incredibly awkward, especially with Apple Jack, but as he became more sociable so did they. And every so often Vinyl would join them, that was how Shadow learned about her past.

It was the very first day she came to meet the gang she had heard so much about. As soon as she walked in, Rainbow Dash freaked out, saying "Oh my god! Oh my god! It's you!" It took some time, but every one calmed Dash down enough for her to explain who Vinyl was. As it turned out, she was a very, very famous DJ. Her stage name was DJ pon3 and she was, at one point, the biggest deal in city music. Oh the memories of friendship, they would always follow Shadow, even when the friends didn't.

Shadow waited in his room for them, wanting to learn what else was going on the world. He heard steps coming closer to the door, the handle jiggling, and opening. He was incredibly disappointed to see the Doc standing alone. "Do you know if the visitors arrived yet?" Shadow asked anxiously. "No, but don't worry, it is only noon. The day is long, that trip takes a little while, and who knows when they left."

"Girls, we need to talk about Shadow." Twilight said in a sad tone, alerting the other mares.

"What is it?" They all said almost in unison, all worried.

"Shadow isn't who we think he is. I looked him up, and I found out a lot about him. He- he did something bad." She said stuttering. The other girls looked at her with curious but serious faces. "He was a vigilante in Manehattan, a violent one who got results, but- but he killed somepony; an under cover cop." The ponies all gasped in shock, Shadow seemed so nice, too nice to be a killer. "He would have been executed, but pleaded for his life and instead was exiled under pain of death. After that, Equestria lost all records of the pony, till now." She said as small tears started forming in her eyes.

"I don't believe it. He's too nice, calm, and gentle to be a killer." Rainbow Dash said with a hint of doubt in her voice, Twilight was rarely wrong with things as serious as this.

"I always knew it, that tricky little vermin. From the day he was found he acted all shady and such, like he was hiding some in'" Apple Jack chimed in, erasing every thought of him being good with her stubborn attitude.

"He was always shy when he asked about his past." Flutter Shy almost whispered when Apple Jack was done.

"I can't believe I almost gave a killer a getting well party!" Pinkie Pie said in a huff, showing her very serious side with a flash of anger.

"Girls, I don't think we should visit him anymore, I can't even look into his eyes anymore. I don't care if he has changed; there is no excuse for what he did." Twilight said with the other ponies nodding in agreement. "I think we should stay here in Ponyville for the weekend, I don't think any of us should see him again."

It was the next day when a knock came from the door, which the pony outside opened with out waiting in classic Vinyl style. "Hey Shadez, why the long face?" Vinyl asked walking in, calling him by her pet name for him.

"Nothing Scratchy, just was expecting some visitors. That's all." Shadow said back trying his best to hide his sadness by calling her by his pet name for her.

"Awe, you miss someponies I see. Well, I have great news that might just cheer you up, guess what it is? Come on, guess." Vinyl said with her special smile that she wore so often. Shadow wasn't in the mood and kept quiet, but wondered deeply about the news. "Awe, no guesses, you stink at being fun. Alright, it's wonderful. I'M DONE! They are releasing me today. I'm so exited; it has been quite a long time since I've been clean out in public." She said with such enjoyment that she was shaking.

Shadow felt completely deflated, he was starting to like her, as in like like. Now she was leaving, and would probably not be seen by him again. "I know your sad, but trust me when I say things will get better. I hear you are getting released real soon, and it is a small world." She said with a seductive tone at the end. Shadow blushed, realizing that he made his feelings a little too obvious.

"I want you to have something of mine; chances are we won't see each other again. I have business to attend to" Shadow said as his mind started to come back to reality. "It might be more complicated than I think it is. I want you to take my cloak, it has served me well for so long, and I know it will do well for you. Just promise me this, don't come looking for me." Shadow said knowing that if she did then she would figure out his past as well. He knew that chances are that he would spend a long time under strict ruling of Celestia, and once he was done, if he got done, he wanted someone who cared about him still. He felt a tear stream down his muzzle.

"I'll tell you what; chances are I won't be doing what I used to be doing. That stuff got really heavy, that's why I was here. I will travel the country, perhaps go outside of Equestria, perhaps I'll see you around. I won't ever forget you Shadow, but I have to go now; I have to make a speech saying I'm retiring. Just remember me, no matter what Shadow." She said hugging Shadow a good bye and left the room.

He was all alone now, the Doc had left some time during the conversation, no one showed up to visit him, and he was alone, truly alone. And worse, evil still was out there, doing something completely under the radar.


	8. Chapter 8

A stormy day was waiting for Shadow as he woke up. "Another day to march through" he thought to himself with the same depressed attitude he kept since Vinyl left. He still felt such sorrow for not just running off with her, as they had talked about on one of those late nights in the garden. But he was even now still recovering; his wings might never heal correctly. But then at least he would have been happy. He realized it was no ordinary day, no it was something special.

It was his release day, no where to go, no where to stay, what joyfulness. All he knew now was that he was on a short leash with no pony to comfort him. Not even a voice to lie about how good things were just sad silence. He walked out to the garden to collect his thoughts and take his last trip down memory lane. He spent a long hour just staring at the grey clouds passing by.

The doctor walked up next to him and quietly said "The princess has arranged for you to stay in ponyville, a ride is waiting for you. Do you have everything?" It still felt as if he was shouting. It broke the silence and brought Shadow back into reality.

that was when Shadow realized he had nothing anymore, he gave away his cloak, his saddle pack was lost in the crash, its contents, who knew, he had nothing. "Yes." He said unenthusiastically he wasn't playing anymore games. He got on the chariot pulled by royal guards and it whisked away to the small hamlet that was his new home. It didn't take long at all, at most five minutes. It was a far walk, but the skies were always so much faster. Such irony considering his wing was still useless. The chariot landed swiftly and as he walked off, it took off and was out of site in seconds.

he looked at his new home, a quaint little town with nothing over three stories that he saw. Being from a big city, he was used to only that, but wasn't surprised. He realized this was the place he crashed, where it all had started. He walked the empty and silent streets wondering where everypony was, it was mid-day, a very busy time anywhere. "Word travels fast." He murmured as he guessed that they too had learned about his past.

CRASH! Shadow jumped as he heard something fall from an ally. He saw a pony form walk, no stumble, out of the shadows.

A plum colored pony with a bottle of something in her mouth. She stumbled about drinking it, oblivious to Shadow. As she tried to walk foreword she fell flat upon her face, the bottle she was drinking rolled to Shadow's hooves. He picked it up and smelled it, it burned his nose, but he went against his instincts and decided to taste it. As the brown liquid drained into his throat, a warm fiery feeling over took Shadow. He loved the taste, warming his body from head to hooves, he drained the bottle. It warmed him like the love of friends, he wanted more, to feel it coursing through his blood.

By this time the mare had gotten back up and stared right at him. She was wobbling from side to side attempting to understand what was going on. "So... I se- Hicc I see you like thaaa." She said hiccupping mid sentence and slurring the rest. She walked away beckoning for Shadow to follow. Shadow started to feel dizzy but followed anyways, he was now very curious. She led him to a small home and opened the door, looking back with glazed eyes. She let him come in, shut the door and led him to the basement. What was inside it shocked Shadow, bottles of what he had drunk before, along with hundreds of other bottles filled with liquids.

Being from a big city, he was no stranger to booze, but never touched it before. Clearly this mare had and liked it enough to create a stash in her basement. He took a bottle and opened it with ease, as did the other pony. They both raised the bottles high and chugged down their contents. He felt the pain, sorrow, loneliness, and sadness lesson with every drink, he felt good for once. He didn't care for the mare, and she didn't care for him; they cared for the drink and only the drink. They spent hours drinking away the harsh reality, escaping into a loose interpretation of the world. By twilight he had enough, and did his best to walk out and go to his flat, a small place paid for by only the princess.

Stepping into the bright world, he was off to a very dizzy start. He grabbed a full bottle before he left and was already working on it. He stumbled across the street and back attempting to drink the liquid. He finally got the bottle open and tilted his head up to drink, taking a few to many steps back in the process. He ran straight into a bench on the side of the street, flipped right over it, and came crashing down to the ground with a loud thud. As he tried to get up, his body refused. It found the ground a comfortable bed and started shutting down, too tired to carry on. His eyes became too heavy to hold up, he let them fall, the bottle was too heavy, he let that fall as well, and he drifted away into deep sleep.

Day after day he would get dead drunk and wonder the town. Each and every time he would pass out somewhere new, alleyways, parks, under trees, anywhere on the ground. He became a town drunk, a shadow of his former glory, lost in a bottle. Every time he woke up he felt worse than ever, so he drank, he felt bad because he drank. The vicious cycle hit him for several days.

Shadow attempted to navigate the streets once again too drunk to see. Amazingly he stayed on his feet as he stumbled aimlessly from side to side. Since he couldn't see, when he ran into somepony, he was as surprised as much as possible in his current state. "Sorrrry misssss, didn't see ya therrrre." He managed to spill out wobbling from side to side.

"Shadow you disgusting sack of fur and feathers! I thought you would have some decency after all your experience but clearly not." A furious Luna said.

"I don't knowww what you ar- oww Stop that! Get Off! LET ME GO!" Shadow started but Luna grabbed his mane and started to pull, pull very hard. He shouted as much as he could but Luna ignored every word, dragging the kicking pony away. "I'm taking you to somepony who can help and that's final." She said sternly and started pulling again.


	9. Chapter 9

Luna was vicious as she pulled the drunken pony through town. She refused to give any slack as Shadow kicked, yelled, and struggled in every way possible. Not long into the struggle though, Shadow became tired and couldn't even keep his head up, let alone fight. He drifted into a half dream state where he saw everything, but with a dream like quality to it. Nothing made sense; he couldn't make it no matter how hard he tried to. After a few minutes like this he felt slack and looked up to see a tree. It was normal tree, but a tree with a home build from it.

Luna knocked on the door and waited patiently, cursing when she saw Shadow stir. "I really hope you're worth it." And before Shadow could even try to speak back the door opened revealing a pony.

The mare looked hard at the two ponies at her doorstep at this late hour only to realize who they were in seconds. "Oh Luna so nice to see you, I see you brought..." she trailed off as she looked at Shadow.

"Twi, I need to put this useless colt somewhere safe, you are the best option. Please do it for me." Luna said softly almost pleading. It worked and twilight led them into the main room. Still being dragged, Shadow found himself thrown onto a couch and left alone. For him it was a blessing and he was fast asleep before anypony noticed.

Both Luna and Twilight made their way to the kitchen to discuss Shadow's future over some tea. They sat at the table as Spike prepared the tea. "Twi, he needs help. I know his past as well, I know him. You feel guilty about anything bad that happens, even if its not your fault. So how do you think he feels, constantly being reminded of what happened. No pony is perfect; I still have regrets but everypony forgiven me, including you. Perhaps you should do the same with him." She said plainly showing all of her logic. Twilight really couldn't fight that, but she also couldn't just forgive a murderer in a second.

"But he killed somepony, how can I forgive that?" She asked back wondering what her response would be.

"I won't lie; it's hard to forgive things like that. But is it worse then what I did? I tried to bring night on forever; he tried to protect the innocent." Luna said almost praying for her to just say alright. But it was true and from the heart, she knew that was enough.

"Perhaps you are right, but that doesn't mean I completely forgive him, but it is clear he needs a friend." Twilight sighed and spike came over to the table with a hot kettle of tea.

"If you ask me," he said while pouring three cups and sitting down at the table, "He's not unlike you when you first came here, he is just lonely." Luna smiled at this, she knew that this was a perfect way to get her to say yes.

Shadow remained asleep for several hours, waking up in the afternoon. He felt horrible and could barley move with out his head exploding into pain. He wanted a drink but something told him no. He lay in pain for what seemed as if a life time, moaning with every twitch. Something upstairs cluttered to the floor and footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. Shadow tried to look without moving only to cause a wave of pain to over take him. Luna came into view along with Twilight and a green dragon who Shadow had heard stories about and assumed it was Spike.

"It's good to see that you are awake, but perhaps it is not good for you. You are going to go through withdraw, and you will hate every moment." Luna said breaking the silence. "We are going to give you something to ease the pain, please just drink It." she continued as Spike gave him a cup filled with a dark liquid, he drunk it without question.

"Twilight, I am sorry. I am sorry I didn't tell you, I just knew that you would hate me, like everypony does now. I just want to put it all behind me, not be forced to remember. I am sorry that I fell into this town." Shadow said looking softly at her, a small tear streamed from his eye.

"Shadow, I forgive you. I understand why you hid you past. I may not like it but you are too nice to be horrible and evil. I want you to forgive me for refusing to give you a chance." She said back with a sorrowful tone "I hope you are better when we talk again, but for now the potion should be starting to take effect.

Shadow's muscles started relaxing and he felt weak, fear gripped him as his strength left him. "Shhshhshh." Luna said as she hugged him. "Everything will be fine; you'll wake up in a few days perfectly fine." He wanted to believe her but his gut told him other wise. He couldn't think straight anymore and soon he drifted off into the fantasy that was his dreams.

"Thank you, he is safe for now but there is worse that will hurt him." Luna said as she removed a book from Twilight's library. It was a book on the elements, one that Twilight had read thousands of times before. "You know about the elements right? the famous six, the same that you and your friends used against me. There are more then those six though, hundreds, but those six are the most powerful. Shadow is one of the few that are living, one that moves from life force to life force when they die. He is very special though, he has two elements in him. Not just any two, but the exact opposite elements, chaos and evil and light and kindness."

Twilight was shocked, never before had she heard about such elements, but now was faced with one on her couch. "What does that mean for him?" she asked cautiously.

"It means that his mind is divided, dark against light, fighting itself. I am surprised that he has survived for so long; the darkness can't do anything with the lightness and the same with the light. The darkness wants a new host, away from the light, and the only way to do that is to have the host die. These elements have developed personalities as well after being subjected to something on Shadow's trip to the South Island. I fear that his mind is now his worst enemy and danger." Luna said softly. "I must go now, as I have to make sure that we figure out what happened. That book is an uncensored version, so enjoy the twenty new chapters, and most importantly keep everyone same." She continued as she left the home and spread her wings, taking off in the falling sun.


	10. Chapter 10

As Shadow drifted off into his dream, he was transported into a world that was strange to say the least. He awoke on the ground, opening his eyes to find it was white. His head shot up to look at his surroundings. To his surprise they were all white, black, or the endless amount of grays. He looked frantically at the room he found himself in, only to realize it was the same room he had fallen asleep in the real world, except he was the only one there. He felt some strength surge back and he attempted to stand up.

The second his hooves hit the floor did everything melt. The world spun rapidly and he felt as if something was pulling him to some unknown place. He felt sick in seconds and felt muscles in his throat tighten and relax. He was very sure he had just vomited in the real world, but even that did not release him from the dream.

He fell onto the ground as everything stopped spinning, his hooves covering his eyes. As he peeked out of his cover he found that he was no longer in a room, but deep in a forest. The sky was pitch-black and the ground was pure white. He got up shakily and looked around. He realized that it was dead silent, no birds, wind, or anything, only silence that was bone chilling. Out of the corner of his eye he saw red. He walked towards it only to find a trail in random red marks. Shadow followed without aim hoping only to wake up and be perfectly healthy.

He made it to a clearing where the red marks were very collected and pooled. Shadow dropped down the second he saw what else was in the clearing. Not far from the pool was a bloody sword tossed to the ground and more importantly, a twisted, broken, and mangled body of a white mare with an electric blue mane, Vinyl.

Shadow started sobbing at the sight of her bloody body lying lifelessly on the white ground. Shadow felt like he sobbed for hours until he felt something behind him. He turned slowly to come face to face with a black mist. It was darker than the darkest of nights and every time the mist seemed to form a shape, it changed into nothingness, although one thing stayed the same, blood red eyes. "See what you have caused Shadow." A hundred deep, dark, and evil voices said as one. "You have done worse yet." It said as the world changed once again, but this time there was color and sound.

Thunder and lighting scarred the sky as fire roared from the ground. Screams and repeated thunder could be heard and shadow could name what species. He heard ponies, griffins, wallabies, zebras, and even kangaroos. Shadow had learned about war the second he left Equestria and knew this was a total war. Huge hunks of metal crawled along the ground spitting fire as even large machines were flying as they dropped fire from above. Shadow smelled blood, flesh, and burned bodies. It was disgusting, he vomited once again. He had used a gun before, even to kill, but he never saw a war before.

Suddenly a siren wailed and everything stopped, the guns, the explosions, the fighting, all stopped. Everyone looked up to the sky, some with tears in their eyes, others on their knees, even others who took their life. He was being pulled back in a bubble like field with the mist as he saw a white flash consumed the world. "All are now dead." It motioned to the war zone. "Those who survived shall slowly die off, all because of you and what you will do. You will kill everyone, all who you love, like, and hate."

The world once again transformed, but this time into a silent waste land, not a tree, bird, spot of grass, or any other sign of life. He saw the ruins of ponyville, broken houses, streets hidden in ruble, and four ponies wondering the once great town. He could hear on of them coughing badly and fall. He could see her coat was stained in red blood, but the others ignored her passing. They just kept walking but they looked like they were in the same condition as the now dead mare.

Shadows heart broke as he felt tears fall from his face as he thought of all of those who he met and now would die. He felt the dream fade as everything faded away, the last thing he saw were glowing red eyes.

It was the middle of the night as his eyes shot open. His throat burned confirming his idea that he vomited while in his dream. The only thing that he could think of though, was all that would die because of him. He couldn't let that happen, he cared for too much for some of the ponies he had met and even some non-ponies. He bolted up ignoring the pain in his head and the uneasiness of his stomach. He ran for the door, he had figured out a way to stop all that was going to happen. He ran to the barn of Apple Jack and grabbed a length of rope and run for the forest. He tried to spread his wings but a sharp pain in one of them stopped any idea of flight. After minutes of sprinting he was truly lost, breaking down into tears as memories of his dream flashed back into his head. He swung the rope of a tree branch and tied it off. He took the other end and tied a noose with it. He climbed the tree and put it around his neck. 'If it said that I would cause it all, then if I die, it won't happen.' He thought as he jumped and left the rope tightened suddenly.

As he gasped for air something spoke to him. "I don't believe it, you are truly weak. Now they shall die, starting with the ones you cared about the most." It said as Shadow realized who it was, what he had just done, and how he had failed. He desperately kicked, gabbed and bit at the rope but with no avail. Everything went black and Shadow went limp, slowly twisting around the rope in the middle of a forgotten forest, all alone.

It is done, sorry for the wait though. The next book shall come in a week or two and will take off where this one left. Merry Christmas and happy holidays!


End file.
